The South African Football Association (SAFA) has blasted the Hawks following a search and seizure conducted at its headquarters, SAFA House, in Nasrec, Johannesburg, on Friday afternoon.
The Hawks seized documents, a laptop, an external hard drive and a USB following allegations of fraud and theft amounting to R1.3 million, which have been labelled against SAFA president Danny Jordaan.
“The search and seizure conducted by the Hawks at the South African Football Association’s (SAFA) headquarters in Nasrec, in the south of Johannesburg, on Friday, 8 March 2024 was unfortunate and a shame to our law enforcement agencies,” a SAFA statement said on Friday evening.
“The Hawks are claiming allegations of fraud and theft amounting to R1,3 million. SAFA is well aware of the amount and is satisfied that it was for services rendered, for which contracts can be provided. We want to set it out from the onset that we believe the search was unlawful, malicious and not conducted in terms of the directives of a warrant given to us.”
The SAFA statement added: “We were not furnished with all the documents prescribed by law. The documents that were furnished by the Hawks during the shameful raid were incomplete and unlawful. We contend that it was done deliberately and intentionally in order to action this malicious action. As a result of this, we have instructed our attorneys to bring an urgent application to review and set aside this search and seizure. We have further instructed our attorneys to bring a formal complaint to the oversight arbitrator of the Hawks regarding the action of all involved members.
Meanwhile, SAFA has threatened to institute civil action against the Hawks as it viewed the raid as a defamation of Jordaan’s character.
“We will further institute civil action for defamation of character against those involved in the naming of the SAFA president’s name in an ongoing investigation. We contend that this is unethical and unlawful as the police never mentioned anyone’s name in matters that are under investigation. We believe, unfortunately, that these members of the police have been compromised and are being used in the callous abuse of state resources. Let us reiterate, there is no money missing from SAFA,” the statement concluded.
